The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
The British luxury department store institution has opened its second iteration of The Residence, as it calls its invitation-only culture, events and personal shopping spaces in China.
The new outpost, in Beijing, is located at the The Opposite House hotel, and has its own private restaurant. It plans to offer exclusive products such as haute couture, high jewellery and watches, as well as social events for its local clientele, Harrods said.
The department store has been doubling down on China for some time. In 2019, it held a three-day pop-up The Residence experience in Shanghai, and then set up a permanent version last year. This marked the first time the company had expanded its private shopping service outside of London.
In 2017, Harrods’ Managing Director, Michael Ward, said Chinese consumers were already spending more at Harrods than British consumers, and were the department store operator’s largest single national customer base.
Its increasing investment in China has been made more urgent due the pandemic-induced disruption of travel between China and London.
With consumers tightening their belts in China, the battle between global fast fashion brands and local high street giants has intensified.
Investors are bracing for a steep slowdown in luxury sales when luxury companies report their first quarter results, reflecting lacklustre Chinese demand.
The French beauty giant’s two latest deals are part of a wider M&A push by global players to capture a larger slice of the China market, targeting buzzy high-end brands that offer products with distinctive Chinese elements.
Post-Covid spend by US tourists in Europe has surged past 2019 levels. Chinese travellers, by contrast, have largely favoured domestic and regional destinations like Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan.